Originally Posted by overqualified52

I see your points . Over time there will be more A220’s ,but I think Delta will fly the 717’s as long as they can . There will always be a need for 70/76 seaters and Delta can profit just fine on those 76 seaters as “mainline” . They are already paying us pilots much higher than even the rate they had on their 76 seat scale and still making quite the profit . The only reason more of the “Regional” flying has come over to the 717/220 is because of attrition issues at 9E. Otherwise they would be doing much more of the flying on RJ9’s . Once again in the 70’s , 80’s and 90’s all the 70 to 90 seat Jet flying was done by the mainline . F28’s, DC9-10’s , BAC 111’s and the original AVRO ( 146) were all flown by USAir, Piedmont , American , Braniff ,Allegheny and countless other carriers . Delta would make plenty of profits by bringing 76 seat flying to mainline . They wouldn’t just bring all the aircraft over and dump the employees. They can’t even staff what they got currently at Delta. If they can somehow grow 9E back you will see more flying go back to RJ9’s . That’s why they have spent 300 plus million the last 2 years to try to grow 9E back. It ain’t working. They have had to spend even more by shifting a lot of that flying to the 717/220 or canceling service altogether at some places . That will be the litmus test this next year if they can grow 9E back . If not , something will have to give .